Seeing Eye graduate and author Sue Martin has donated a bound manuscript and audio recording of her upcoming book, Out of the Whirlpool—A Memoir of Remorse and Reconciliation. The manuscript will be hand numbered and signed. When the book is released, the winner of this item will also receive the final published book in the medium of his choice: print, electronic text, or spoken word as read by the author.

Martin’s journey through life has not been an easy one. Deeply depressed, at the age of 26, she thought she was out of options. Putting a loaded gun to her head, she pulled the trigger. The suicide attempt failed but resulted in Martin’s becoming blind.

Martin tells the story of her suicide attempt with stark honesty. She then takes the reader through the process of blind rehabilitation in such a way that you feel you are going through the process of learning new skills and making the emotional adjustment right along with her. You come to understand what it takes to rebuild a life after traumatic blindness. Martin tells her story with an honesty and humor that is captivating. Advance readers have called her book a “Must read” for anyone in the field of blind rehab or anyone going through the adjustment to new blindness.

Having grown up with horses and dogs, loving the intimacy of
communication between human and animal, Martin’s decision to train with a Seeing Eye Dog was a natural fit. Experience the exhilaration of walking with a dog for the first time, the disappointment of retiring a guide after just three years, the deep gratitude While taking the harness off for the last time when ushering a dog into a well-deserved retirement, and the sadness of watching a beloved guide lay her head on her paws for the last time.

Martin’s book is filled with adventure, with joy and triumph, with adversity and adjustment to change. It’s a story about living life to the
fullest. While she has faced extraordinary challenges, Martin feels that, in
the end, her story is everyone’s story.